Happy Customer at Happy Lemon

I've been seeing Happy Lemon in Facebook statuses every now and then and wondered what it was. A new dessert? Perhaps a brand of clothing for teens? A fruit shake kiosk in the mall?

It was only recently that I learned what Happy Lemon is when I chanced upon it in Eastwood Cyber Mall -- lo and behold! It is a drink bar that serves milk tea and other quirky mixes from coffee to fruit flavors. Happy Lemon's mascot is actually a smiling face of boy (although it looks like a girl) with yellow hair in the shape of a lemon. His name is Lemon Boy. How cute!

Happy Lemon is an international brand that first opened five years ago in Hong Kong, but now has over 100 branches all over the world. You will find them in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, and now the Philippines.

Browsing through their menu, I couldn't decide what to order since it was my first time to try Happy Lemon. Happy Lemon is not just limited to milk tea, they also have other specialty drinks which are divided into collections -- the Lemon Series are all lemon-infused; the Rock Salt and Cheese are a unique combination of rock salt and cheese to tea, coffee and cocoa; the Milk Tea are yummy drinks with a variety of topping you can choose from, not just pearls or sago; the Mousse Spins are ice-blended drinks; Cocoa and Coffee; Specialty Drinks; and Fresh Tea.

Happy Lemon drinks (l-r) Cocoa with Rock Salt & Cheese and Lemon Yakult

A friend, as well as the cashier at the counter, suggested I get the Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese since it is the best seller. Hmmm...I've tried chocolate candy with rock salt and it was ok, and I love cheese...but a chocolate drink with cheese and rock salt? This I've got to try.

My drink for the day -- cocoa with cheese and salt mixture on top

Looking at the concoction, the cocoa or chocolate part of the drink is at the bottom of the plastic cup white the cheese and rock salt mixture rests on top, giving the drink a foamy-creamy appearance. I was about to put in a straw to begin drinking but I was told to drink it straight from the cup. What I experienced next was a delightful layering of flavors from salty to sweet. Heaven! Just to see the difference of drinking it with straw, I took a sip hoping to get the same result but all I got was the taste of plain chocolate drink similar to the all-time chocolait drink. So I ditched the straw for good and enjoyed the Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese until my cup was empty.

Top view of my drink

I declare I am one happy customer. But since I cannot consume more than one cup of the super yummy drink in just one sitting without jeopardizing my calorie counting, I will definitely come back soon. I just hope that Happy Lemon will soon open a branch somewhere in Makati or Manila since their branches in Greenhills and in Eastwood are far from home.

UPDATE AS OF AUG. 28: Happy Lemon opened today at the Archaeology wing of Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati. :)

Good Time with Waffle Time

Waffles, especially cheese and hotdog waffles, are one of my all-time favorite snack foods since my first encounter with these criss-cross ridged delights back in grade school. I remember having waffles as merienda in the canteen, freshly cooked and warm from the waffle maker.

Good thing there is Waffle Time almost everywhere to satisfy waffle cravings -- they have 423, nationwide, from Ilocos to General Santos plus 8 more in Indonesia; and out of the 423 outlets, 171 are franchised. From their first cart (with only two waffle variants - cheese and hotdog) in 1998 at the Atrium Mall in Iloilo City, Waffle Time expanded to Manila in 2002.

Selling waffles was not an entirely new idea since canteens and kiosks have been selling them way before but they were served in plastic bags and are usually cold. Waffle Time thought it would be nice to have the waffles cooked fresh on site, served warm, and placed in nice packagings. Thus Waffle Time is a pioneer of this concept of cooking the waffle on site, having different variants and selling them at very reasonable, value-for-money price. They also strictly adhere to standards in all aspects – the ingredients, the filling, serving size, price, and even the packaging, and carts used – to have consistency in the quality of their products nationwide. To ensure this, they work with reputable suppliers for our ingredients and equipment, and they build the carts in-house.

Currently, Waffle Time has 16 variants to offer, excluding the seasonal flavors. From time to time, their R&D team comes up with special variants such as Queso de Bola waffle for Christmas. They have the savory-filled variants -- American Hotdog, Cheese Delite, Tuna Salad, German Cheese Franks, Ham & Cheese, Canadian Bacon, and Spicy Chickendog; and the sweet-filled variants -- Mango Magic, Pineapple Pleasure, Belgian Choco, Swiss chocolate, Ultimate Ube, Bavarian Cream, Very Blueberry, Strawberry Surprise, and Choc-nut. Their best-seller is the American hotdog while their newest variant to date is the Tender Juicy Cheesedog. The price points are affordable for the quality product customers are getting. The cheapest variants are at P10 while the most expensive is at P20.

Waffle Time thrives to be visible through marketing efforts such as the one they currently have – the Thor Collectibles where customers can avail of one of the following items for every purchase of any one waffle plus a Lipton ice tea product (or purchase two waffles if the outlet has no ice tea): the Thor organizer, Thor ID caddy, Thor notepad, Thor Mighty pencil and Thor Mjolnir eraser for just P10 each, or the Thor backpack for just P45. Promo is until end of July or while supply lasts.

Waffle Time also offers party packages for P4,500 where they can bring a cart on site, complete with 100 waffles and service crew to cook the waffles at the venue. For an additional P500, they can also bring their mascot, Waffy, to entertain the kids.

For more details about Waffle Time’s products, services and franchising opportunities, you may log on to www.waffletime.com and email customerservice@waffletime.com or call 0922-8923385 or 0920-9622389.

Photos from Waffle Time.